The present invention relates to a base construction for a wall panel assembly, and more specifically to a height-adjustable base construction.
Modular wall panel and furniture systems are used in a wide variety of applications because of their efficient and relatively inexpensive partitioning of a large open area into efficient office space. The modular constructions provide a relatively high concentration of work stations within a given area.
Due to the fact that the panel systems are often installed on floors which are not level, for example in old buildings, it is necessary that the panel systems include means for plumbing, or leveling, the panels above an out-of-level floor. One such system includes a foot, a wall panel supporting assembly, and threaded members extending between, and threaded within, the foot and the support assembly. Each of the threaded members is oppositely threaded in opposite directions at its opposite ends so that when the threaded member is rotated in a first direction, the foot is withdrawn into the support assembly; and when rotated in a second direction, the foot is extended from the support assembly. Consequently, the threaded members may be individually adjusted to level the support assembly and the panels supported thereon. An example of such a system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,407,101, entitled BASE CONSTRUCTION FOR PANEL, issued Oct. 4, 1983, to the assignee of the present invention. However, the threaded members have a tendency to be inclined from the vertical and jam when one threaded member is adjusted to a height significantly different from another threaded member so that the panel and support assembly are at relatively steep angles with respect to one another. Consequently, the height-adjusting mechanism is frequently difficult to adjust and forcing such adjustment results in ruining the mechanism during installation. Thus, the panels cannot be plumbed, or leveled, above a seriously out-of-level floor because the threaded members cannot be adjusted to significantly different heights without jamming the threaded members.
Another adjustable base construction for wall panels as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,885,361, entitled BUILDING WALL PANEL LEVELER DEVICE, issued May 27, 1975, to DeSchutter, includes a leveler support track slidably supporting a leveler device which includes a lower support member slidable on the leveler support track and an upper support member on which a panel supporting member rests. A height adjusting means comprising a threaded bolt with a hexagonal head is located between the foot and the upper support member and is received by a threaded opening in the upper support member. Thus, rotating the bolt in one direction lifts the upper support member to lift the panel support, while rotating it in the opposite direction lowers the panel support. The bolt is pivotally supported on the lower support member by means of a ball-and-socket arrangement to permit the entire assembly to tilt toward or away from the opposite ends of the lower support member and/or the sliding of the lower support member on the leveler support track. Although we have not built and tested the ball-and-socket arrangement, we believe it is generally not sufficiently strong as is often necessary to support the relatively large weight of the panels and panel supporting assembly.